


Wine & Cheese

by quartetship



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medical, Birthday, M/M, Nurses & Nursing, Originally Posted on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-19
Updated: 2016-05-19
Packaged: 2018-06-09 09:08:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6899830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quartetship/pseuds/quartetship
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jean had never cared much for birthdays, anyway.</p>
<p>Right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wine & Cheese

**Author's Note:**

> A short birthday fic for everyone's favorite anime trash son, written into my nurse!Jean universe. 
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> \--

It's not like it was a big deal, really.

Jean had never been the type to get bent out of shape about trivial things like holidays, anniversaries and birthdays. For him, those days usually equated to just another long shift, watching people get wheeled into the emergency room for doing incredibly stupid things. His feet ached the same as they always did at the end of those days; why should they be held in any higher regard than any other space on the calendar?

Still, he had been expecting some kind of _something_ from Marco on his birthday. A lunch date, a card, even a damned _text message_ might have been nice. But Marco was notably silent, not even bothering to send him a good morning greeting. By early afternoon, Jean was a frustrating mix of slightly hurt and increasingly worried. His boyfriend did have a habit of giving him major health scares. Jean took a break to give him a call.

"Hey, you." Marco hummed sleepily into the phone when he finally answered, sounding every bit himself. Jean huffed a sigh of relief and tried not to let the twinge of hurt in his chest bleed into his voice.

"Hey. Just callin' to check on you - don't usually go all day without hearing from you. Feelin' alright?"

"Oh, yeah - yeah, I'm fine." Marco said cheerfully. "No worrying about me today, alright nurse?"

Jean grumbled into the receiver, but something Marco had said caught his attention. "Do you know what today _is,_ babe?" He asked, maybe a little bitter at himself for feeling like he had to mention it. On the other end of the line, Marco gasped.

"Oh, right - it's _Tuesday!_ That means you'll be getting off late, so no dinner. Want me to swing by your place after work?"

The sinking in Jean's chest robbed him of breath for a moment, but he cleared his throat and recovered quickly. "Nah. Don't worry about it."

"You sure?" Marco asked, sounding for the first time like he was something less than chipper. "You have plans or something?"

"No, I'm just..." Jean wasn't much of a liar, so he gave him the best excuse he could muster. "I just don't feel so great, today. Probably just gonna go straight to bed."

"Oh... Okay." Marco sounded crestfallen, and for a flash of a second, Jean almost thought it fair. But he shook his bitterness off and reminded Marco to take his medicine, then went back to his workday, trying to think of it as only that.

\--

Jean had taken the train to work that morning, half expecting that Marco would pick him up afterward, so that they could do something to celebrate. But since that obviously wasn't happening, he took the train back home again, letting himself stare out the window to distract himself from his thoughts.

On the elevator to his floor, he wrestled with his feelings. Birthdays were just another day - every day, thousands upon thousands of people all over the world were being born or celebrating their birth. His wasn't special, even to himself. But it didn't stop him wishing it would have been special to his favorite person. He stepped out of the elevator with tears threatening to escape the corners of his eyes, wiping them away as he went for his door.

Turning the knob on reflex, he found that it gave way, and the door swung open, unlocked. He hesitated a moment; was someone else in his apartment? The only person Jean had trusted with a second key was Marco. He walked inside cautiously.

"Hello?"

There was tense silence for a minute, and then a quiet, "Uh, _hey."_

Jean peeked around the corner to the short hallway that led to his bedroom, and saw Marco hovering in the doorway there. He grinned nervously. Jean squinted back at him.

"Marco? Why..." He didn't have time to finish his question before Marco stepped out from the door, and Jean could see the small spread of gifts on his bed. Bags of his favorite takeout food, a bottle of wine, a small cake - all of it in front of a stack of small, brightly wrapped gift boxes. Jean stared at them from his spot in the hallway, then looked back up at Marco. "You... _for me?”_

"I know you said you wanted to come home and rest," Marco said, grinning apologetically. "But I wanted you to have your gifts, so I thought I'd just... leave them here for you." He scratched at the back of his neck, shifting his weight and laughing nervously. "But you weren't supposed to find them until I was gone."

"I'm glad I did, though." Jean shrugged his jacket from his shoulders and left it in the hall, moving to wrap arms around Marco. He pressed their foreheads together, leaning forward and up onto his toes to press a kiss there before dropping his lips to Marco's. Between kisses, he laughed, embarrassed. "I... I thought you forgot."

"Forget your birthday?" Marco scoffed dramatically, and Jean laughed again. Marco bumped their noses together and slipped arms around Jean's waist. "Sorry you felt that way, baby. Probably my fault for being so quiet about it. But you should've known I'd do _something_ for you."

"Cheese ball that you are," Jean smirked, and Marco snorted with laughter.

"Your favorite cheese ball, and you know it."

Jean nodded. "You definitely go pretty well with wine."

=

"Speaking of which," Marco grinned, pulling Jean backward into his bedroom. "Why don't we have a glass before I go?"

Jean shook his head. "Why don't we have a glass, and then you _don't_ go."

"Whatever you want, birthday boy." Marco smiled, and closed Jean's door behind them.

Jean had never much cared for things like birthdays. But that was before Jean met Marco.


End file.
